[She says his name gently, calmly, but on the inside, she is terrified. Her eyes say as much should he look at her, and her fingers tremble as she wraps them around his arm, her other going around his shoulders to help stabilize and ground him.]
[She reaches over quickly for the glass of water at her side of the bed and holds offers it to him when he's ready to take it, her other hand now rubbing at his back.]
Take the time you need...
[But she is going to have to ask now sooner than later—]
Are you... feeling okay?
[The obvious answer would be no, and she already knows that, but she wants to ask regardless.]
[Once he feels his body no longer shake, he'll carefully take the water to drink it down, only now realizing how parched his throat is. And after a moment...
...]
Better.
[That's the "best" answer he can give...]
Compared to what we've been through before... It's not the worst.
[The dogs all whine around the bed, with Melody hopping up and into Eustace's lap with a whine, her little black nose sniffing at his face before Eria growls quietly at her in warning to give him some space, and she sits politely instead, waiting. Bri and Aerona lift their paws up onto the bed, and Ivor and Valo sit behind them, watching.]
It was pretty bad.
[Not the worst, no, but it's definitely up there.]
... Think this has anything to do with what happened in Orkili?
[Despite the warning growls, Melody continues to whine and giving Eustace little licks, gestures of affection that Eustace can't help but soften and gently pet her head as if in reassurance before he reaches over to first run his fingers through Eria's fur and ears, the wolf finally letting a low whine through before he pets the others.]
I wouldn't doubt it...no, I'm certain of it. They treated me well, but I'm not surprised that there were some lingering effects... It happened before last time.
[She gives him a moment to greet and reassure all of the dogs, hearing how worried they are, as her hand continues to run along his back, and her head falls to rest on his shoulder. She's trembling like a leaf, but she tries to hold it back for his sake, not wanting to show him that she's as scared or as worried as she is.]
[With the dogs appeased, he can now focus on her. Try as she might, he knows better—how knows how terrified she had been, he could feel it in the dream. So with his arm around her, he rests his head against hers as he holds out his still afflicted arm. It...seems to be recovering, the ice no longer there, but there are those scales again...]
[He can only look at her with some helplessness before he leans in and kisses her gently on the lips.]
I meant what I said. You've already been helping me...you help ground me, remind me that my past is the past and that I have something new and beautiful here. So long as I have you, no matter what happens to me I'll always have a reason to fight back through it.
And a reminder that I don't have to deal with any of this alone. Even... [A small sigh.] Even if I wish you didn't have to, either.
[He gently strokes her arm, but as he thinks back...]
[The kiss is surprising, and she can hear a couple of the dogs whine, though not out of grumpiness but out of worry. She leans into it anyway, happy to accept and give back what she can before she's pulling back so that she can gaze up into his eyes. It helps to hear him say that, and while it soothes some worries, it only brings about others. That these things that she is doing are not enough if he has to keep suffering like this.
She keeps those thoughts to herself for now and instead brings her hand away from his arm and to his face, her thumb trailing along his cheek.]
[He wishes he knew, but he can only shake his head.]
I don't know, but we've already seen the number of different nightmare related creatures in this world. It could be any number of them and for any number of reasons.
If anything...it reminded me a little of that figure Alastor and I encountered in the Ice Queen's dream...
No...but it that was because it was targeting the Queen. I don't know if they're related or not, but we've had other creatures that try to instill nightmares into us.
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[She says his name gently, calmly, but on the inside, she is terrified. Her eyes say as much should he look at her, and her fingers tremble as she wraps them around his arm, her other going around his shoulders to help stabilize and ground him.]
It's okay. It's over... The dream's over.
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Tifa...
[His voice is strained and a little breathless, but...]
I'm fine...just need...a moment...
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Take the time you need...
[But she is going to have to ask now sooner than later—]
Are you... feeling okay?
[The obvious answer would be no, and she already knows that, but she wants to ask regardless.]
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...]
Better.
[That's the "best" answer he can give...]
Compared to what we've been through before... It's not the worst.
[But no less unnerving or worrisome.]
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It was pretty bad.
[Not the worst, no, but it's definitely up there.]
... Think this has anything to do with what happened in Orkili?
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I wouldn't doubt it...no, I'm certain of it. They treated me well, but I'm not surprised that there were some lingering effects... It happened before last time.
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Have you been having a lot of nightmares lately?
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[With the dogs appeased, he can now focus on her. Try as she might, he knows better—how knows how terrified she had been, he could feel it in the dream. So with his arm around her, he rests his head against hers as he holds out his still afflicted arm. It...seems to be recovering, the ice no longer there, but there are those scales again...]
This was the first time since.
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I wish... I wish there was more I could do to help...
[Her voice cracks a little at that, a held back sob of worry bubbling up in her chest that she swallows down.]
I hate seeing you like this.
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You've already done more than you should have needed... Without you who knows how long I would have stayed trapped in that nightmare...or worse.
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[She chews on her lip, her brows furrowing together.]
I want to stop it from happening at all. I thought they treated the nostilium, so why's it coming back?
[And so badly, too?]
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I don't think it can go away completely. Nostilium is just another form of dreamotion... There will always be some there.
It could just be a late side effect.
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[She doesn't mean for her voice to rise slightly, but she's so tired of having to watch him suffer through this over and over.]
This happened last time, too... in that dream...
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I could try and get myself checked again, just in case something was missed.
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Why does it always have to be him? Why is it that every time something bad happens, it's always him? Why them? Why anyone, for that matter?]
I... I hate seeing you like this. I don't want you to have to go back, Eustace. Is there nothing we can do? That I can do?
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I meant what I said. You've already been helping me...you help ground me, remind me that my past is the past and that I have something new and beautiful here. So long as I have you, no matter what happens to me I'll always have a reason to fight back through it.
And a reminder that I don't have to deal with any of this alone. Even... [A small sigh.] Even if I wish you didn't have to, either.
[He gently strokes her arm, but as he thinks back...]
...It does seem strange, though.
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She keeps those thoughts to herself for now and instead brings her hand away from his arm and to his face, her thumb trailing along his cheek.]
How do you think?
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[He looks at her with more seriousness than before.]
It seemed...different from past nightmares. As if there was something else in that dream.
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Yeah, I did.
[A cold shiver runs through her, and he presses further up against him, seeking a warmth that could fend it off.]
Those eyes... It's like they were watching us.
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[He frowns, thinking back to all the various incidents that have happened in dreams in the past...]
...I wonder if that wasn't something from my nightmare...but something else entirely.
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You mean like something else that dreamwalked into it, too?
[That would explain some things, but it raises questions about some others.]
It felt like it was trying to keep you there. Or take you away from me... so if it was from the outside, then why? Where?
[She asks as if he might have answers to any of this...]
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I don't know, but we've already seen the number of different nightmare related creatures in this world. It could be any number of them and for any number of reasons.
If anything...it reminded me a little of that figure Alastor and I encountered in the Ice Queen's dream...
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But when he brings up that dream, she lifts her gaze to his again.]
You think?
[While she doesn't know what either of them are, it's not such a far off assumption?]
Except that one wasn't as aggressive in trying to pull you in as this one, was it?
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[She presses her lips together, her eyes searching his face, more of her unsaid thoughts swirling in them.]
There was something... weirdly familiar about it, though. I couldn't put my finger on it, but... it felt like I'd seen it before.
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❤️💙 fin.